In recent years, companies in Silicon Valley have been under intense focus as the call grows louder for more diverse and inclusive work environments where everyone – particularly women and other underrepresented minorities – can innovate and thrive.

Intel, a Silicon Valley icon, just amplified this call with the release if its Diversity & Inclusion Annual Report, which details the company’s ongoing efforts to achieve full representation of women and underrepresented minorities in its U.S. workforce by 2020.

Hiring Diverse Technologists is the Key to Change

Intel is committing $300 million over the next three years to its diversity and inclusion efforts. In 2015, the company grew its technical female workforce by 1.2% to (20.1%). Intel also announced they achieved 100% gender pay parity across U.S. employees, and its overall female workforce grew by 1.3% from 23.5% to (24.8%) in 2015.

While a 1.2% jump in the number of women technologists may not seem like much, for a company of Intel’s size and scope, it’s a significant achievement. This translates to an increase of over 900 additional women in its technical workforce. This number underscores the fact that growing the number of women and underrepresented minorities, specifically in technical roles, is the key to seeing real change across organizations.

Leadership and Accountability Drive Success

Intel has also demonstrated a sharp focus on leadership and accountability – greater diversity and inclusion is a shared, company-wide goal, and employee bonuses are tied to meeting this goal. That’s a bold move, and it sends a strong message to the industry as a whole that making progress towards bridging the gender and diversity gap is imperative to business success.

These goals also have the support of Intel’s leaders at the highest level. Among the internal programs Intel announced is the CEO Diversity & Inclusion Summit, in which select groups of middle and senior level women and underrepresented minority employees meet directly with Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich and other senior executives to share perspectives about retention challenges and other issues.

It’s wonderful to see Brian and other male tech leaders championing the perspectives of women and other underrepresented groups at their own companies. At the Anita Borg Institute, we welcome more participation from male (and female) leaders who are committed to creating more inclusive and welcoming work environments.

This top-down commitment to change and the accountability measures built into Intel’s goals are imperative to driving change and seeing real results, and we applaud Intel’s leadership for making this a company-wide priority.

Intel Helps Raise the Industry Standard

Apart from making significant improvements to its internal diversity numbers, Intel is also pushing for change across the technology industry. The company announced a series of technical talent pipeline programs to grow the number of women industry-wide, including increased spending with diverse suppliers, and new venture fund and a program called Hack Harassment, an initiative aimed to “combat online harassment and make our online world a safer and more inclusive place.”

Following Important First Steps with More Measurable Actions

Intel’s commitments to increasing diversity in its workforce are an important first step, but there is still much work to be done to realize the goal of equal representation of women and minorities. Significant challenges remain, particularly when it comes to retaining these women and minorities.

These continuing challenges underscore why Intel’s efforts are so important – and why other manor tech players must make equally significant commitments to changing the ratio and fostering workplaces where everyone is empowered to innovate and thrive.

We are currently living and working in a global economy. To be well positioned for success, your workforce should resemble your customer base and your community as a whole. Intel is to be commended for these efforts and the goals they have set for the future.